Display-case.



No. 876,889; PATENTED JAN. 14, I908.

- W. A. VAN BROGKLIN;

DISPLAY CASE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 28,1906.

Fig. I; Fig.2. .Fig. 3.

111: nuRRls PETERS c0, ivunmaruu, a c.

WARREN ALLEN VAN BROOKLIN, OF ALDEN, NEW YORK.

DISPLAY-CASE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 14, 1908.

Application filed May 28. 1906- Serial No. 319.072.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WARREN ALLEN V'AN BRooKLrN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Alden, in the county of Erie and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Display- Cases, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improved in closing and selling case for commodities such as chewing gum or the like which can be placed upon a store counter or in any other suitable location and is adapted to be opened by the purchaser or salesman.

The object of the invention is to provide a comparatively simple, cheap and convenient case for containing chewing gum or the like, and having a door and an alarm to attract attention when the door is opened.

The special object of the invention is to provide improved display features, whereby the cabinet will have great value as a counter salesman.

To this end, the invention consists generally in constructing the case or cabinet with vertical side walls and correspondingly upward and rearward inclined front and rear walls, the side and front walls being of transparent material and all the walls being of substantially equal width, in providing a pair of horizontal partitions within the walls, dividing the interior of the cabinet into u per and lower gum-compartments, of substantially equal horizontal dimensions, and an intermediate compartment, and in furnishing the inner face of the front wall, which is constituted as a door by a spring hinge mounting along one edge, with devices for holding opposite each gum-compartment an upright layer of transversely-disposed gum packages. The functions of these arrangements will become more perfectly understood as the following specification proceeds, and by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a front elevation of the improved inclosing case. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 3, is a rear elevation of the same. Fig. 4, is a central vertical section on line aa, Fig. 1, the alarm mechanism being shown in elevation. Fig. 5 is a detached inside view of the door. Fig. 6 is a detached edge view of the door. Fig. 7 is an enlarged transverse section on line b-b, Fig. 8, through the alarm mechanism and a fragment of the inclosing case. Fig. 8 is an enlarged plan view of the top of the inclosing case, the cover and the bell being removed to show the alarm mechanism.

In referring to the drawings for the details of construction, like numerals designate like parts.

The case in form comprises a'base, an inclined rear wall, two vertical side walls, an inclined door at the front and a top. The base, top and frame are preferably stamped from sheet metal or otherwise suitably formed.

The base 1, and top 2, are both of a dish like form as shown, and the frame portions 3,

of the side walls are shaped to receive and support sides 4. of glass or similar transparent material through which the interior of the case may be viewed. It will be noted that the several walls are of substantially equal width, and that the side walls are vertical with upward and rearward-inclined front and rear edges, and the front and rear walls inclined upward and rearward substantially in parallelism; the object of all of which will be fully set out hereinafter.

The rear wall of the case is preferably of sheet metal and is divided into three portions, a middle portion 5, an upper door 6, which is connected at its bottom edge to the middle portion 5, by a spring hinge 7, so that when the door is opened by grasping and pulling on a ring 7, and released it will automatically close, and a lower door 8, which is connected by a spring hinge 9, similar to the hinge 7, to a lower horizontal frame member 10. The interior of the case is divided into three compartments; upper and lower compartments 11 and 12 arranged to contain gum or the like, and middle compartment 13, which contains a clock 14, having its rear fitted through an opening in the middle portion 7 5, of the rear wall to expose the key 15, of the clock for convenient winding, and its front or time indicating face 16, exposed through the front of the case between the upper and lower compartments. The front of the case is closed by a door composed of a frame 17, and a wall 18 of glass or similar material mounted in. said frame. The middle portion of the glass wall 18, is in front of the face 16 of the clock when the door is closed, and above and below the clock face and in front of the upper and lower compartments 11 and 12, are arranged supports for gum or the like. These supports each consist of two metal strips 19, having their ends 20, bent at right angles and fastened to the door frame substantially as shown in Fig. 6, so that a plurality of pieces of gum 21, or the like can be held in close proximity to the inner surface of the door with their wrappers clearly exposed through the lass door to illustrate to the intending purchaser the character of the commodity contained within the case.

An alarm is attached to the inclosing case which is automatically operated by the opening of the door to indicate to the salesman that a customer desires to purchase. The alarm consists of a gong 22, which is mounted and concealed within the top 2, of the case, a striker 23, which is-likewise within the top 2, and a slidable rod 24, for operating the striker.

The slidable rod 24, has a hook 25, at its outer end which catches under a rod 26, attached to the door, so that as the door is opened it draws the rod 24, with it, see Figs. 7 and 8. The hook 25, is released from the rod 26, when the door is opened a certain distance by an inclined enlargement 27, on the slidable rod 24, which engages with a frame part 28, so that the outer end of the slidable rod is gradually forced downward as the door is opened. The slidable rod is returned to its original position to operate the striker and ring the gong by a spring 29.

It will be noted by looking at Figs. 2 and 4, that the case slants downwardly and forwardly from the top to the bottom so that the tendency of the door would be to close by gravity when partially opened. However the door is attached to one side of the main or body portion of the case by a spring hinge 30, substantially as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, so that it will always close automatically.

The principal advantages of the improved case reside in the simplicity of construction, the means for attracting attention to the character of the commodity contained within by displaying samples prominently in the rear of the door, and the manner of arranging a clock in position to attract attention generally to the case.

The object of making the walls of the case or cabinet of the same width is to accommodate in rear of the front wall or door a layer of transversely-disposed sample packages, these packages being of substantially the same length as the width of the door, and to permit the remainder of the packages to be stacked up inside the compartments parallel to the side walls, those packages immediately adjacent the side walls, as indicated in Fig. 2, being placed on edge, and, of course, extending for substantially exactly the width of these walls. In this way, the gum packages ent side and front walls; and the fi'ont wall is inclined for the purpose of displaying more effectively the sample packages therebehind, it having been found that the ordinary counter is so low that a vertical front wall does not show up the contents to the best effect. N o novelty is claimed for the inclination of' the front wall per se, as it is realized that this is a common expedient; but attention is called to the inclination of the real wall, corresponding to that of the front. It is one of the objects of the invention to provide for as neat and compact an arrangement of gum packages as possible; and it is for this reason that the front and rear walls are inclined substantially in parallelism. In this way, as clearly shown in Fig. 2, the longitudinally-arranged packages within the compartments fit the front-torear depth thereof as accurately at the top as at the bot-. tom. Another advantage of the inclination of the front or door of the cabinet is the saving in wear upon the spring of the hinge thereof, this being dueto the fact that the door has a tendency to close itself under the action of gravity.

I claim as my invention.

A display cabinet for chewing-gum in elongated packages, consisting of' a base, elongated vertical transparent side walls secured to and rising from said base and having their front and rear edges upward and rearward inclined, an elongated transparent front wall inclined upward and rearward from said base and constituting a door, being supported along one of its longitudinal edges by a spring hinge, a rear wall extending upward from the base at an inclination corres onding to that of the front wall, the four wal s being of substantially the same width, a pair of horizontal shelves supported within said walls and dividing the interior of the cabinet into upper and lower gum-compartments of substantially equal horizontal dimensions and an intermediate compartment, devices secured to the inner face of the front wall or door opposite the gum-compartments for holding an upright layer of transverselydisposed gum packages immediately in rear of the transparent material of said door, and a top surmounting said walls.

\ WARREN ALLEN VAN BROCKLIN. 

